Fundamental flaws of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's design delay its first flight. Our trustworthy source informed us that the real reasons for the multiple delays (and many more once in the future) of the widely announced Dreamliner's first flight are because of the fundamental problems with the design of the aircraft. So far Boeing has not been able to resolve the issue, and it's unclear at the moment if such a solution can be found in the nearest future. The problem aroused due to in-flight vibration of the aircraft's wings. As we all know it the aircraft is designed to be able to achieve an unprecedented level the fuel economy. It became possible via application of the three major innovations: better engines, better aerodynamics, and the new light-weight composite materials, which this aircraft body is built of. In the present design the Boeing's engineers elongated the wings to achieve the higher lifting force and, also, decreased the wing's width and height (i.e. the crossection) in order to decrease the air drag force. These particular design specifics can be clearly seen from the sketches and the drawings of the airplane widely distributed by Boeing during its Dreamliner's promotion campaign. The long and narrow wings made of a strong, but flexible polymer composite happened to be prone to the low frequency large amplitude in-flight resonant vibrations. The computer simulations have shown that at certain conditions the airplane will start swinging its wings like a real bird. This could sound like a funny thing, but try tell it to those who are sitting in the cabin of the flying tin can (I should rather say - the flying paper cup). The effect of the wings vibration is familiar to anyone who ever flew in an airplane. For most of the present day's machines, however, it doesn't mean a real trouble, because their wings are stiff and rigid enough to resist the destructive effect of the vibration. In the current design of the Dreamliner the expected level of vibrations is many many folds higher, and, in addition, there is no easy solution to the problem. By increasing thickness of the wing's walls, replacing the wall's materials with heavier metal alloys, going back to the wider and taller wing crossection geometries, all of it will increase the weight and the drag force, which, in response, will translate into a poorer fuel economy and will make the Dreamliner to be less appealing and less competitive vs. its rival - the Airbus 380. So bad, by now Boeing has sold more than 500 of its non-flying Dreamsinkers. It's time to panic?! Ha! No doubt Boeing would really want to keep this information away from you, general public, as well as from its shareloosers. Have a great flight! Cheers,
